Habit: sprawling, spinescent shrubs, less than 1 m high; stands remaining consistently in a very juvenile developmental stage. New stems scabrid with erect, uniseriate hair bases rigid with resin, persistent. Seedling leaves clustered, almost sessile, elliptic, 8–12 mm long, 1–1.5 mm wide, thin, glabrous; margins distinctly dentate; apices aristate. Later stages: spinescent short shoots (10 mm) persisting; leaves clustered around spinescent shoots, sessile, narrowly elliptic, 6–9 mm long, 1–3 mm wide, glossy dark green, both surfaces glabrous. Inflorescences protandrous: either simple botrya of several flowers at ends of branchlets, pedicels 4–5 mm long, or solitary or paired flowers on short shoots, pedicels 2–4 mm long. Flowers white, bisexual; sepals persisting, 3.5–4 mm long, green, spreading from base; petals 6–8 mm, white, spreading from the base. Fruit are dehiscent capsules, brown when mature, concave, usually bivalved, 5–6 mm long, 5–8 mm diam., persisting after seed shed. Seeds 1–3 per loculus, 4–5 mm long, 2 mm wide, unevenly slightly winged, brown. Flowering mainly in summer; mature fruit available late autumn–early winter.
Home